The qualifying round-robin stages at GKSS Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand finished today with the surprise departure of defending champion USA’s Chris Poole/ Riptide Racing and Switzerland’s Eric Monnin/ Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team from the Open Class. In the Women’s Class, local favourite and defending Women’s Trophy champion Anna Östling/ Team Wings from Sweden defeated current world champion Pauline Courtois/ Match in Pink Normandy Elite Team to win the round-robin stage and fast-track to the semi-final.

Today was a crucial points day for teams in both classes at GKSS Match Cup Sweden to make the cut and advance to the knockout quarter-final stages. In the Open Class, seven-time winner of the event and local favourite Björn Hansen and his Hansen Sailing Team of Nils Bjerkås, Oskar Ljung and Mathias Bredin continued their dominant charge to finish the round with 8 wins and just one loss to Denmark’s Jeppe Borch.

Borch (Team Borch Matchrace) and Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson (Berntsson Sailing Team) each notched a 6–3 win/loss score to finish the round in second and third. France’s Ian Garreta (Med Racing) and Swedish up-and-comer Marius Westerlind finished with matching 5–4 records, while Oscar Engström (SWE, Team LIROS) and Aurélien Pierroz (FRA, Match Again by Normandy Elite Team) claimed the final two quarter-final spots at 4–5.

The surprise of the day, however, was the early departure of defending 2024 Match Cup Sweden winner Chris Poole (USA, Riptide Racing), and recent winner of the Long Beach Congressional Cup Switzerland’s Eric Monnin (Capvis Swiss Match Race Team). After a disappointing week sailing with a new crew and with a cancelled practise day ion Sunday, Poole and team managed only win out of nine races, while Monnin and crew closed the round with three wins and six losses. Also to leave the competition is Australia’s Zac West/ Sail+Racing Team.

In the Nordea Women’s Trophy, Sweden’s Anna Östling and Team Wings delivered a clean sweep of seven wins undefeated, confirming their status as front-runners heading into the quarterfinals. A nail-biting match-up against France’s Pauline Courtois/ Match in Pink by Normandy Elite Team rallied the spectators watching on the rocks as the Swedish and French teams swapped multiple leads around the course before the Östling and crew were able to cross the line first to a loud ovation from the shoreline.

The Wings team advance to the semi-finals with Courtois and crew finishing the stage with an impressive 6–1 win/loss score. Meanwhile, Julia Aartsen of the Netherlands impressed with a 5–2 record at the helm of Team Out of the Box, a rising team gaining fast respect on the women’s world tour and keen to make the podium in Marstrand.

Also advancing are Renee Groeneveld (NED) at 4–3, local favourite Martina Carlsson (SWE) and her Beyond Sailing Team on 3–4, and New Zealand’s Megan Thomson (2.0 Racing) at 2–5. New Zealand’s Celia Willison (Edge Women’s Match), usually a consistent knockout-stage presence, has struggled to find form this week, advancing with just one win (1–6). Denmark’s Kristine Mauritzen and the Seagulls team exit the competition with a 0–7 scoreline.

The Quarter-final stages for both classes get underway tomorrow with crowds expected to build over the next three days for the final on Saturday.

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